Modular platform systems are typically used in areas where reliability is increased and cost reduced by the use of interoperable pieces or hardware. Such interoperable hardware may include modular platform shelves or chasses. These modular platform shelves include one or more backplanes that receive and couple to other interoperable hardware such as circuit boards or “boards”. These boards may include, but are not limited to blades, carrier boards, processing boards, interconnects, etc. Other interoperable hardware that a backplane may receive and couple to include components such as fans, power equipment modules (PEM), field replaceable units (FRUs), alarm boards, etc.
Generally, modular platform system architectures require a set of manageability features in order to manage interoperable hardware in a modular platform shelf. Manageability features may include, for example, negotiating power budgets between boards and/or components, monitoring and controlling cooling, hot-swap management, sequencing power up and power down processes, alerting on errors and other capabilities that may be related to security.
Dedicated hardware solutions exist to perform most of the hardware manageability features or functions on interoperable hardware. One solution has each modular platform shelf implement a set of mandatory shelf manageability features as described, for example in an industry standard known as the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG), Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (ATCA) Base Specification, PICMG 3.0 Rev. 1.0, published Dec. 30, 2002, and/or later versions of the specification (“the ATCA specification”). Thus, for example, in an ATCA modular platform system or rack that includes a plurality of modular platform shelves or chasses, each shelf in the system may include one or more dedicated hardware management modules. Each hardware management module may reside on a board coupled to a backplane within each modular platform shelf to implement the set of mandatory hardware management functions.